Nets spoil Sixers' shot at elusive winning streak

The Nets’ Deron Williams drives to the basket and is fouled by the 76ers’ Jarvis Varnado during the hosts’ 105-101 loss at the hands of the visitors from New York. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

PHILADELPHIA — On a given night, twice in the past week even, the 76ers will prove capable of winning the occasional game of basketball.

One of these years, they hope to learn how to win the next one too.

In an attempt Saturday to win consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 4, the Sixers fell behind early and lost, 105-101, to the Brooklyn Nets at the Wells Fargo Center despite a failed but passionate fourth-quarter rally.

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In it, they showed too little of the defensive commitment and wise shot-selection they’d shown a night earlier in a nine-point victory at Boston.

Given everything he’s seen through the together-they-build thing, Brett Brown likely wasn’t surprised.

“That’s the trick to the NBA, for these young guys to learn from,” he said. “Now, there was a good job. But then you blink and you have to do it again.”

Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 20 points, 15 in the second half. Hollis Thompson added 18. Deron Williams led Brooklyn with 19 points.

The Sixers played casually early on Fan Appreciation Night, routinely failing to secure the lane on defense. For that, they would lose for the third time in four games to dip to 17-60.

Brooklyn, still deeply involved in the race, won for the fifth time in six games to improve to 42-34.

“That wasn’t who we were the night before,” Brown said. “But we got going.”

Though behind, 67-46, three minutes into the third quarter, the Sixers would rally to within 96-95 when Michael Carter-Williams made one of two free throws with 1:05 left. However, Mirza Teletovic answered with a three-point jumper to keep Brooklyn in control.

“We just kept staying aggressive,” Young said. “And we kept playing defense until we got ourselves back into the game.”

A three-pointer from Thompson, his career-high sixth of the game, pulled the Sixers within 103-101 with 11.5 seconds left, but Marcus Thornton’s two free throws gave Brooklyn its four-point pad with 7.3 seconds showing. Thompson stepped out of bounds to deflate the Sixers’ final realistic chance.

Benefitting from the vision of Tony Wroten and the energy of Carter-Williams, the Sixers drew within 90-87 on an Elliot Williams breakaway dunk. But the playoff-minded Nets would not tap out, Williams puncturing that rally with a three-point shot.

“They are a good team,” said Wroten, who had 11 points and six assists. “Brooklyn is going to the playoffs. We played defense and came back. But we made a couple of mistakes, and they came away with it.”

The Nets scored on their first eight possessions for a 17-11 lead, but the Sixers closed within 27-21 by the end of the first quarter. Brooklyn finished the second quarter on an 11-5 run, good for a 57-42 halftime lead.

By then, the Sixers were down to doing some sightseeing --- literally, at times, professionally at others.

“I really like at this stage of the year showing our young players what a playoff team is doing now,” Brown said. “And the Nets are getting ready for the playoffs. And everything is a little tighter. Everything is a little more physical. It’s a little bit more serious.

“We’ve played Brooklyn four times. And we can remember — and learn from — what we are seeing. That team is stacked up with veterans and getting ready to go into the playoffs.”

In that spirit, the Nets gave the Sixers an education in ball movement, delivering 18 assists in the first half, good for 36 points in the paint and staggering 61.5-percent first-half shooting.

The Sixers will play their next three on the road, and will have one more home game, April 14, against Boston. They will finish the season in Miami.

Before the game, Brown took the microphone, in the Fan Appreciation Night spirit.

“We want to thank you for helping us build something,” he told the 16,133 fans, “in this fantastic city.”

The sentiment was welcome. Building a winning streak, for once, would have been, too.